Pay as You Can Announcement 2017

Snow labyrinth hearts and lake 2016 Winter Witchcamp

Dear Beloved Winter Witchcamp (WWC) Community:

In sacred space, with much thought, planning, and excitement, the WWC Weavers have decided to change the sliding scale fee structure for WWC to a pay as you can model with a suggested sliding scale of $0 to $600 based on the approximate cost per person at Camp being $300. We see Camp as a living, breathing web of interdependence and hope that this changing relationship to money is just one way we can put our values into action. This magic emerged during our normal budget process which incorporated feedback and suggestions from community over the years as well as examination of our Camp values.

We are committing to this model for one year, WWC of 2017, in an effort to bring witches to Camp who might otherwise be unable to attend or for whom attendance is a financial hardship. We see this shift of our relationship to money as a powerful act of magic and trust in the abundance and communal values of our community. Weavers welcome direct and specific feedback from community about this on an ongoing basis. On August 22nd Weavers will be having a meeting to address feedback about this plan. After 2017 WWC, we will evaluate the sustainability of the model with community feedback.

“How will this work?”, you may ask.

*At 8pm CST Monday, Sept 12 early registration for People of Color and Indigenous People of the Americas will open. If you are intending to register for Camp with someone who will be there for support, they too should apply under early registration.

*At noon CST Saturday, Sept 17 general registration will open.

*When you register (if paying more than $0), you will be asked to pay a deposit of $50 or 25% of the amount that you are choosing to pay.

*You will be asked to commit to paying the balance of the amount of your choosing, based on your ability, from $0 to $600 by Winter Solstice Dec 21, 2016.

We are stepping out into the unknown. It may get messy, and that is where brilliance can emerge. There are some details regarding stipends (in place of work trades) and registration still being worked out. We trust the hard work and magic of that process. As in the past, we have set a budget and are committed to meeting our costs in a number of ways.

Fundraising will continue to happen and will support Camp in this new model in the same way the fundraising for the scholarship fund has supported Camp in the past. Instead of a single fundraising event determining which few get very small scholarships to attend camp, we trust in the hearts and commitment of our community to give what they can to make Camp happen.

We are planning to hold a fundraiser in early winter and will be hosting an ongoing online auction. There will be an ongoing tally of where we are in meeting Camp costs available on the WWC website in order for the community to have transparent access to how close we are to our goal. We are dreaming that the new sliding scale will be sustainable over many years. We have $13,600 in our prudent reserves, which is set up to cover costs of camp in the case of an emergency. We have made the agreement to dip into that fund, if needed, to cover costs and we are committed to experiencing this process as a profound and transformative magical act.

Feedback can be submitted via email to wwcregister@gmail.com, by phone at (320) 428-0193, or by grabbing a Weaver and having a conversation.

This is a spell.

This is a spell of desire.

This is a spell to bravely ask for what we need.

This is a spell of surrender.

This is a spell to create a new paradigm of abundance and co-creation.